About the programme

European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018

Join us in 2018 for the European Year of Cultural Heritage, an unprecedented year of events and celebrations. Cultural heritage is the fabric of our lives and societies. It surrounds us in the buildings of our towns and cities and is expressed through natural landscapes and archaeological sites. It is not only made up of literature, art and objects but also by the crafts we learn, the stories we tell, the food we eat and the films we watch. Cultural heritage brings communities together and builds shared understandings of the places we live in. The digital world too, is transforming the way we access heritage.

Aims of the year

The aim of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 is to “promote sharing of Europe’s cultural heritage and its appreciation as a common good, to broaden the knowledge of shared history and values, and to develop the sense of belonging to common European space” (art. 1 of the Decision founding the EYCH 2018).

The list of specific goals include the promotion of cultural heritage as the main component of cultural variety and intercultural dialogue, active involvement in the protection of cultural heritage and in making it accessible to the society, and the promotion of the significance of cultural heritage for socio-economic development as well as an element of intercultural dialogue between the EU states and the rest of the world.

Who?

To realise this goal the EU institutions will collaborate with the member states, the local and regional authorities, as well as the heritage sector, local communities, and NGOs.

Each of the member states has appointed special teams to coordinate and realise the tasks as part of the EYCH 2018. In Poland, by the decision of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, this role will be played by the International Cultural Centre. With the objectives of the EYCH 2018 in mind, the ICC will take up a variety of mutually complementary activities focusing on research, education, promotion, and information.The official launch of the EYCH 2018 on the European level will take place in Milan, on 7 December 2017, during the European Culture Forum.

The EYCH 2018 budget amounts to 8 million Euro for all its initiatives in 2017 and 2018, including: the Creative Europe grant programme and subsidies for grant programmes of Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, Cosme, and the structural funds.